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“Who am I?” said the man. “Honey, you called me. Why don’t you start with telling me who you are.”
“I’m looking for Lieutenant Fraley,” she said. “My—my husband.”
“You’re going in and out, sweetheart,” said the man and Josie wondered why she was “going in and out” when she could hear everything he said perfectly. “Did you say you’re looking for your husband? Looks like you have the wrong number.”
“Noah Fraley,” she said. “I need to speak with him. This is Josie. Detective Josie Quinn. I’m in Sullivan County. I’m at a retreat. We’re stuck in the snow…” She rattled off the address. “Someone is dead. We need help.”
“This is Denton you called,” he said. “Alcott County. You’ve got the wrong department. Listen, I’ve got to keep this line open. Best of luck to you.”
“Wait,” Josie cried. “I work for the Denton Police Department! It’s Detective Josie Quinn!”
But the line was already dead.
Josie stared at the phone screen, something between shock and fury bubbling up inside her.
Alice and Sandrine appeared, hobbling together, following the path Josie’s feet had made. “What happened?” asked Alice. “What did he say?”
Josie wiped the snow from the screen again and checked the number to make sure it was correct in her phone. It was the right number. Who in the hell was answering Noah’s desk phone?
“Josie?” Sandrine said.
The Chief had talked about hiring a new detective to replace Mettner, but he’d been tight-lipped about it. Had he brought someone new on while Josie was away? Had he not even briefed the guy about the rest of the team?
Alice shook Josie’s shoulder. “What happened?”
“The call dropped,” Josie said. “The snow is getting worse. We better go back. Maybe the other group had better luck.”
NINETEEN
The other group hadn’t had any luck at all making an emergency call. They arrived at the main house moments after Josie, Alice and Sandrine. It was almost dark and everyone was shivering and soaked. While Sandrine loaded logs into the wood-burner that heated the building, the rest of them took turns using the bathroom to change into dry clothes. Everyone seemed as exhausted and frozen to the bone as Josie felt. They placed their blankets and pillows around the perimeter of the central room, since that was the location of their main source of heat, and then they gathered around the dining table while Sandrine and Taryn threw something together for dinner.
Brian took one of the solar-powered lanterns and the only flashlight they’d been able to find out back to check on the generator. It was still running but no one had checked the fuel all day. Cooper usually took care of that. Josie wondered just how much fuel was left. They hadn’t had a chance to search for materials that might help them siphon the gas from the other generators. They could survive without the electricity the generator provided but she and Brian would not be able to charge their phones. They hadn’t been much use yet, but Josie didn’t want the one tenuous link to the outside world severed. She found her phone in her coat pocket and plugged the charging cord into it. The screen came to life, showing a text message. Josie’s breath caught in her throat as she opened it.
Gretchen had replied. Sometime between Josie, Alice, and Sandrine leaving the forest after their last attempt to reach 911 and now, the message had come through.
Homicide??? Are you safe? Chief and I are making some calls to Sullivan County. The Chief knows their Sheriff, Hunter Shaw. Says he’s a good man. But the storm there is bad. Not sure how long it will take for them to get to you. Noah’s already up there. He left when the snow started. I tried calling his cell but can’t get through. Hang tight. Help is on the way.
Josie tipped her head back and let out a long sigh of relief. Noah. Here in Sullivan County. She hadn’t contacted him. Had refused to call him or text him. She’d shut him out even before she left for the retreat, and he’d come after her anyway.
He left when the snow started.
Tears pricked at Josie’s eyes. Blinking them back, she set the phone down and joined the others for dinner. Brian reported that there was enough fuel to get them through one more day. The next day he would search around to see if he could find anything he could use to get the remaining gas from the other generators. The news was met with silent nods. No one seemed to have the energy for conversation. After they ate, Nicola and Brian cleaned up. The rest of them moved to the chairs around the wood-burning stove. Josie wrapped herself in her blanket and plopped down. In spite of the heat radiating from the stove, she couldn’t get warm. It was like the cold of the day had seeped so deeply into her bones, she might never be rid of it. As her body started to relax for the first time that day, she felt aches in her feet, legs, back and shoulders, the unwelcome results of trudging through almost knee-high snow the better part of the day, and transporting Meg’s body. She knew she should dig through her bag for her ibuprofen, but she didn’t have the strength to move from her chair.
Josie looked over her shoulder to the windows, now black, showing only the reflections of the rest of them inside. It was eerie, as if the rest of the world no longer existed. But outside those windows, two doors down, the frozen body of poor Meg Cleary waited for the proper authorities to claim it. Once everyone else was gathered around the stove, Josie gave them the good news that her colleagues in Denton were getting in touch with local authorities to let them know what was going on.
Alice clapped her hands together, eyes alight with relief. “Help is on the way!”
“That’s great,” said Brian. “But how will they get up here? How long will it take?”
“I don’t know,” Josie answered honestly. She didn’t tell them her fear that whatever resources Sullivan County had would already be stretched thin in conditions this bad. On the other hand, a homicide here would likely fall under the purview of the state police, which might mean a second agency trying to reach them.
Sandrine dragged her fingers through her long hair. “Let’s not worry about that right now. All we need to know is that help is coming. We’ll just try to stretch our resources as far as they’ll go. I really think we should all take this opportunity to talk about how we’re feeling. About Meg’s death.”
No one spoke.
The only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the shrill whine of the wind outside.
Sandrine added, “I know you’re all very tired. Exhausted. In addition to the shock of Meg’s death, we’ve all been pushed to our physical limits today. But I do think it’s really important that we don’t lose sight of the emotional impact all of this is having on us. Pushing your feelings aside now will only lead to more problems later.”
